Carriers and freight forwarders often struggle with a large amount of freight RFP / RFQ invitations that are being sent out by shippers. The main reason for this is the legacy systems that are behind these tenders.
Global tender burden for carriers and forwarders
Carriers / 3PL’s receive in general too many tenders. Some of which are interesting, but many occasions, the invitations are not very well defined. The main 2 reasons for this:
- Carrier has been picking from a huge (non-specified) database
- Freight tender platform from shipper side requires a lot of work
Moreover, very few shippers take the effort to contact carriers beforehand. As a result, it feels like the invitation for a particular freight tender could be just another benchmark exercise. And naturally, carriers are not very fond to participate in benchmarking projects.
Freight RFI and freight RFQ issues
So far the general problems. Let’s review some more in-depth freight RFI and freight RFQ issues that scare carriers off:
- The shipper does not allow a well-defined Q&A
- Shippers’ guidelines were too vague which leads to a conclusion that you had no clue about what you were doing
- The client selected the carrier from a database offered by a procurement company; carriers know they are one out of many
- The tender project was way too big, it leads to a belief that smaller carriers do not have a chance
- The shipper had people run the tender who do not have real transport experience
- The shipper tenders every year the same lanes: no money to be made, carriers avoid that
- Shipper runs a global tender that is not interesting for all parties involved
Modern-day Freight E-tender tool can solve this problem
One of the takeaways our logistics team of experts noticed was that the logistics industry has gotten way behind other industries. In many other forms of sourcing, such as packaging or indirect spend, companies are making use of technology, often called e-sourcing, for quite some time now. But just like other components of transportation (freight rate visibility), the freight tender process is still a process ruled by legacy systems and excel-based approaches. At Freightender, we are making changes to that! We have created our own freight sourcing platform, enhancing the whole tender process for shippers and carriers!
VIDEO – Easy Freight Tender Management with Freightender
But unfortunately today, many carriers are still very, very frustrated with the tools they have to work with for freight tender responses. At Freightender we understand that very well and have made our tool as easy as possible! In this 1-minute video, we show you just how easy it is to manage and participate in a freight tender via our cloud-based platform. Freightender’s solution help carriers:
- Improve tender documentation management
- Reduce time spend on freight tenders
- simplify communication flows with potential customers
- Improve Q&A participation with a built-in questionnaire
- Quick focus function showing you the most interesting lanes
- Easy internal tender management
More about Freightender – E-Tendering in the cloud
Freightender is making use of the latest, proven technology in the industry. Started in 2016, we are a direct spin-off from ControlPay global Freight and Payment, the largest freight audit provider in Europe. While our approach is typical for a start-up, with our intention to disrupt the logistics tender market, we have got a wealth of logistics and IT experience in-house. As such, we always approach our customers as partners, and often improve our solution together with our growing customer base, and their specific needs. For more information, please contact us at info@freightender.com or request a live demo here:
